Neji's first romance
by Raraku27
Summary: There is a stranger in Konoha, and she is an annoying distraction to a certain young Hyuuga. Neji struggles to get her out of his mind from the first moment he sees her, and while he does his best to distance himself, it seems like fate is working against him. She seems to be struggling with the same problem.
1. Chapter 1

She awoke and her life seemed a blank slate. Who was she, where was she, what was she? The light filtered through the dense trees that seemed to go on forever, whichever way she looked, turning her head from side to side, feeling the earth move beneath her head. Lying there on her back, she closed her eyes as the soft warmth of the filtered sun touched her upturned face, she smelt the soft loamy earth and the smell of slowly decaying leaves, mixed with the scent of crisp fresh air, as can only be smelt in an area surrounded by densely packed trees.

In his high backed chair, situated in a circular room overlooking an expansive spread of colourful houses, a white haired man jerked his head up in a startled motion, the paperwork he had been busy with spilling into the floor as he looked up. He stared out of the windows overlooking the village that fell under his care. "Hokage-sama?" came a low masculine voice from the other side of the room, the youth, his long hair tied up in a spiky ponytail high on his head, looked curiously at him with bright, intelligent eyes, that despite his lazy drawl, were focused sharply on his superior. The sound of him clearing his throat snapped the white haired man, whose face was mostly covered by a dark black cloth, back from his intent study of the village, which showed signs of a recent destructive battle. No, it was beyond the village, whatever it was.

"Shikamaru, get Neji, Kiba and Hinata, tell them I need them for an important mission right away", his selection choosing those that he knew were best suited for the task of search and find, those that were available any way. The youth called Shikamaru nodded and turned, running out of the round office, wondering if it had anything to do with the strange pulse he had experienced just a moment before, and knowing full well that probably every other ninja in the surrounding area had just felt the same thing.

Walking briskly out of his office, the man with the spiky white hair, also known as Kakashi, and as his feet hit the grey concrete floor outside his office he bit deeply into his thumb. He tasted the iron taste of blood as his teeth penetrated his skin, with the resulting overflow of blood he drew a line on the floor, yelling "Kuchiyose no jutsu", with a not so subtle amount of smoke there appeared a group of dogs, each one stranger looking than the last, and seated on the head of the largest dog was the smallest of the lot. Dressed like they all were, in a similar garb to what the man that summoned them was wearing, with some variations. The green and blue combinations of what seemed to be a uniform amongst several of the people wandering around the village, including the youth who was now running down the street.

Shikamaru had run into a team of three youths, two young men and a girl, and quite luckily, he thought, a fourth young man who stood talking to the group. The striking similarities between two of them instantly placed them in the same family. They both had long sleek hair, one the darkest shade of blue black, and the other a deep shade of mud brown, but the similarity that classed them in the same blood line was their eyes, the iris was of the palest colour, almost translucent, and the absence of a pupil made them look almost ghostly. The boy was wearing a loose combination of white pants and shirt, the pants covered in a second layer of dark green, that went up to his knees. The girl in turn was wearing almost all blue, from the dark blue pants, strapped down by a bandage wrapped around her thigh, to the loose jacket that was just tight around her ample chest, which sleeves lightened from the shoulder on out. They were accompanied by two more boys, one with short brown hair and an animal like face, the features enhanced by the two triangular shapes painted on his cheeks, the other, also with short brown hair only had his eyes visible above the collar of his coat, and these in turn were covered by heavy duty dark goggles. The rest of his head was hidden in the folds of a deep green hood. "Kiba, Hinata, Neji! Ohaio!"Yelled Shikamaru, "Hokage Sama is asking for you, he wants you for a special mission!", at his yells, a huge white hound emerged out of the nearby bushes, looked at the youth with the red stripes on his face and bounded in the direction of his voice. Without any hesitation three of the four peeled off and followed the hound, which was now following Shikamaru as he turned on his heels and ran back down the street. "What about me?" mumbled the youth in the hood, as he stood, once again just the forgotten member of his team.


	2. Chapter 2

"Yo Kakashi", came the customary greeting of the smallest dog in the group that had just appeared out of the substantial puff of smoke. Kakashi stood back, leaning jauntily on his heels and tilting his head to the side, in the manner that Kakashi was well known for, even when he became Hokage, he still kept to his slightly goofy mannerisms. As he inhaled to prepare the hounds on the mission, their attention was drawn to the street as footsteps came pounding towards them. "Ah there they are. Ok Pakkun, now we can get moving", he addressed the small dog.

As they started on their run out of the town, Kakashi started explaining what exactly it was they were doing. "My morning of paperwork was interrupted by a strange sensation, almost like a pulse of pure power. It felt like something small but very strong punched me in my gut." "We all felt it too" interjected Neji, as they ran "we were just discussing the sensation when Shikamaru arrived". "As it stands, I have no idea what it was, but we have to find it, which is why I gathered eyes and nose. I still feel a dull pulse at the moment, but I cannot pinpoint it exactly, just the general direction of it." Kakashi told his fellows. Kiba chuckled "don't worry Hokage-sama, we will help you find it!"

Lying there, her eyes closed, she felt her world slowly expand, the darkness behind her eyes no longer the only thing she lived in. She could not remember how long she had been in that endless darkness. Now her senses expanded, before she opened her eyes she knew she was surrounded by trees, she sensed their closeness, she felt the network of roots beneath her, the trunks surrounding her as she lay at the foot of a particularly large and old tree. Whether it was one of any significance she could not say, she just knew that it had been there a long, long time. As she felt the trees, she started noticing other life forms, bugs, lots of those, and birds, even occasionally a larger creature passing by, causing a disturbance around her. Then as she spread her senses even further, she stopped. People. A whole lot of them, and close by. What was it? A village? A town? Her curiosity was awakened and she decided to explore. She pulled in her senses, keeping them only alert enough to warn her of danger nearby, and moved her limbs for the first time, in what seemed like ages.

They passed through the large archway that held the gates to the town, and headed onto the main road to and from their beloved Konoha, turning into the dense forest after just a few minutes of running. Both Neji and Hinata had changed their appearance just a bit, their eyes now showing pupils. Their eyes were surrounded by veins that seemed to pull out the paler version of a pupil, this allowing them to see much more than the average human or even ninja. Their counterparts, Kiba and Neji, using their enhanced sense of smell, were accompanied by the group of ninja dogs, fanning out in a search formation. As they ran, searching in a wide arc, the evergreen trees that surrounded Konoha and made up the vast plane of trees, flew by in a blur. Their passage would every now and then disturb an animal or a flock of birds. Konoha was not named the leaf village in vain, as the vast forest surrounded it for miles, and it was here where the group was searching, covering as much space as they could, the dogs in the lead and Kakashi close behind, trying to catch variations in the vague pulse that called to him like a seductive siren. Not since the discovery of the jichuuriki had he felt such a surge of power, not even Pain had generated such a kick to his senses, when he revealed himself, and since it was an unknown source he had to locate it fast, he had to absolutely determine whether it was a threat or not. The village was his number one priority, and no danger would be tolerated, they had been through too much already.


	3. Chapter 3

Neji focused on every small detail that came into his sight, which was everything, his concentration unwavering as they passed through the mass of trees. He searched continuously for any sign evidence, any trace of the chakra that had caused such a disturbing pulse, that had disrupted all of his incredibly sharp senses, even for just a second. This was a worrying aspect and he did not like feeling cut off, not even for a second. The pulse had put him on alert, every hair on his body standing on end, as if an electric current had just passed through his body. Turning his head slightly to his left, his cousin, Hinata moved swiftly beside him, having experienced the same effect of the pulse, they had been ready for Kakashi's call. His long dark hair streamed behind him, as his long ope sleeves flapped in the wind created by the movement of his run, his handsome face set in the usual slightly arrogant expression, which was slightly marred by the fierce concentration in his eyes. Pale eyes peered intently at every slightest movement, seeing even the smallest ant on its way from collecting food for the nest. This continued for while until he encountered an almost blinding force of chakra, a small area of it, but its glare was an intense ball of blue, radiating out from a body lying half covered in foliage.

She felt her joints creak as she tentatively began moving her limbs, wondering how long she had been lying still for them to feel so stiff, she frowned and her curiousity increased as she watched leaves float down from her clothing, onto the forest floor, which was also covered with a thick layer of dead leaves. Looking down at herself, she realised she was wearing a pair of short blue pants, which when she shifted slightly, felt almost too short for her liking, but they were made from seemingly sturdy material, which was comforting to her. Her shirt was made of softer material, with long, flowing sleeves, a semi-low cut and ending just above her sky blue pants. Noticing the dirt and green stains on her clothing she thought to herself that she must have worn them for a while, but she could not recall ever owning such clothing, then again, she did not recall much as all, not even her own name came to her, which she realised must be strange, but it did not bother her much. It came to her attention that she was barefoot, another odd thing, why would she be out in the forest without any shoes? Slowly she looked up, her senses had just kicked in, and while there was still not much emotion to speak of, she felt some curiousity towards what she sensed to be a very large group of, she thought, humans. Moving forward, getting used to the feeling of her body, her joints slowly waking up again, she headed towards the multitude of auras that she could sense, many of which were strange to her. As she moved she realised that she must be strong, as she felt muscles ripple beneath her skin.

Neji and the others approached the now walking figure with caution. Who knew what it was capable of? None of them knew the true extent of its power. Moving into a defensive formation, he and Kakashi made their way to the centre of the group, being the two strongest members present. Even though the woman on his left shared some very visible family traits, he outmatched her by far. Something he had held over her head for many years, the hatred for her branch of the family burning within him, but which had recently been relieved due to an abrupt change in his circumstances. Slowing down the group spread out silently so that they could surround the object of their focus, making sure that she could not escape, trying their utmost to look non-threatening, though with Kiba and Akamaru present that illusion was slightly stunted.

After several moments of waiting for her to respond to their attempt at a non-threatening approach, Kakashi stepped forward, Neji stepping in behind him to cover him in the event of a sudden attack. It bothered Neji slightly that she seemed to be pointedly ignoring them, her eyes searching for something in the distance. Looking past Kakashi, he had time to size her up, and he noticed, with an uncomfortable feeling, that she looked capable of holding her own in a fight. Even with his eyes deactivated he could tell that she had strength in her arms and legs, and she held herself with the grace of a fighter. As his battle training took hold and he started to focus on the details of the person in front of him, she started turning, and Neji became uncomfortably aware that she was undoubtedly a very well developed woman, abruptly tearing his eyes away from his study. The dark haired woman turned slowly to face their group, carefully and coldly studying each of them, tense at first, but after a few moments of tense silence, she relaxed her shoulders, indicating to them that she was not about to do anything drastic, and while the atmosphere lifted slightly, it was still awkward. This did not change when Kakashi made his first attempt to engage her, she looked over to him in a confused manner and shook her head slowly, as if trying to rid herself of water in her ears. It occurred to him that she might not understand their dialect, and she seemed to be having difficulties comprehending what was being said, until all of a sudden her eyes lit up and she responded fluently but slowly, as if she was testing out her tongue for the first time. "I greet you Kakashi sensei" she replied to the slowly spoken introduction that had been repeated several times by Kakashi, "I wish to know where I am situated, it seems I have entered a territory that is unfamiliar to me, I believe this area is familiar to you and that I am in the proximity of your home."

The reaction in their group was instant, the tension became palpable, she not only knew that their beloved village was nearby, she also knew exactly where they had come from. Shifting positions slightly they moved into attack positions, quick looks were exchanged and he noticed that no one present was all too comfortable with this sudden revelation, their village was supposed to be warded against unknown intruders.

She wondered at her own sense of calm, especially considering the fact that she was now surrounded by the strangest looking group of people. Not at all surprised by their arrival, she had known they were on their way a few minutes before they landed behind her, she had to marvel at the stealth in their approach, but something within told her that, to her, they were no threat. A cocoon of calm surrounded her and her control over her emotions was iron, even though she felt the adrenalin run through her veins, ready to engage her fight response at any sense of danger.

Motioning to get her attention, the white haired, masked man was speaking directly at her, but what he was saying was a mystery to her, she could not understand the language her was speaking, it was a strange but interesting sounding language, so she focused her mind on the individual words being formed. Slowly she shook her head from side to side, and she realised that with each passing moment, the words became clearer and comprehension started forming, then, with a snap, she understood what was being said, and, surprising herself, she replied slowly but fluently in the exact same language. AS she spoke she took the moment to inspect the group surrounding her. There were three males, one female and two canines, or at least what seemed to be canines, they both seemed slightly strange. She noted the similarities between one of the males and the female, their eyes showing them to be related in some fashion, even their looks and bearing spoke volumes of their relationship, smirking, she knew all was not good between the two. Beside the female stood a male with an animal like face, who obviously had a close relationship with the first canine, an overly large white creature with hound like features, they moved in such a manner that told her they had been together for an extended period of time. Her eyes were drawn to the metal plates tied around the members of the group, on various areas of their bodies, but the majority of them residing on the foreheads of their respective owners, each one with the same recurring symbol. She could not help but wonder who these people were, each with their own interesting aura surrounding them, yet none posing a threat in any way. Their auras told her that they were not what you would all ordinary in any way, each one of them had their own unique well of power, it would be such a bother if she had to attack them, and since she was in a place she did not know, she did not see the harm of letting them escort her to their home.

Her stance change, her shoulders relaxed slightly and she seemed to slump slightly. She was no longer an immediate threat to them. Kakashi sensei attempted a tenuous smile, his single visible eye creasing in the telltale manner, he put his hand behind his crazy mop of white hair that stood up behind his forehead protector, an obvious sign of his relief. In a gently persuading voice he told her to follow them and, still in their formation, they headed, slowly at first towards their hidden village. It took longer than usual, since they would normally not do this at a walking pace, as such, however, they could keep an eye on her and block any attack that might come from her. Neji kept his eyes trained on her, not an unpleasant job, he found himself smirking on the inside, his byakugan activated and observing everything she did in the slightest detail. He could not help but notice that there was something different about this girl, she was, as noted before not a normal civilian, but even to the unusual standards that he and his fellow ninja held themselves there was something odd about her. Ahead of them Akamaru, the big white hound, had obviously lost patience with the slow pace that they were keeping and started bounding and leaping around them in a playful manner, all tension lost from him. This set Kiba to chuckling, as he watched his hound gambolling around, trying to engage him in their usual play while taking strolls through the forest.

Smiling she started picking up the pace, spurred on by the playful nature of the hound, she too just wanted to get going, an urgency boiling up from deep within, the more she moved, the more strength she felt emanating from her and she wanted to test out her limits. She was tempted to test out the speed of her escort as well but decided against it, as this might be seen as a flight attempt, and just lightly pushed them to greater speeds, without seeming to run. After a while she became lost in her thoughts, the motion of running sending her into a trance, she remembered a saying that said, knowing something like the back of your hand, this did not apply to her in this case, she hardly knew her own hands, she felt completely lost in her own body.

The four humans around her matched her pace and together they broke into a run. They kept their pace, running as the trees slipped past. A few minutes later, however, they came to a clearing and she just could not resist, she took off sprinting at top speed, longing for the sunlight she saw sparkling on the bright green of the foliage growing in the rather large clearing. Ignoring the yells behind her she nearly tumbled off the cliff that she had missed, and for the first time she laid eyes on Konoha.

Breathing deeply she finally looked over the place that had caught her curiosity a while ago, it was beautiful. Set in a depression within the earth, surrounded by a lusciously green forest was the home of the four humans and two canines behind her. It was a large spread of buildings, many houses of shapes and colours were visible below her, the streets teeming with life. There were many layers of motion, the streets full of pedestrians and even the rooftops showed the occasional flicker of motion as she realised there were people leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Slowly she focussed on the details, and it became clear exactly why the town seemed to be all bustle, there were many areas that showed a large amount of damage, the largest concentration of people surrounded such areas. What had done such a large amount of damage? These people were obviously in the midst of recovering after some sort of calamity and whatever it had been must have been something especially huge to have done such a large amount of damage. She vaguely recalled a flash of an image from a battle and the destruction such an event could cause, but pushed it aside as the young man with the dark hair stepped towards her.

"Konoha" he said and gestured towards the town, that was closer to a city. His pale eyes looking over it with a fond tilt to the corners. She joined his gaze and noticed the unique formation of the village, it spread out from the base of the cliff like a fan and looking down to the origin of the village, she noticed there were several carvings protruding from the cliff face, but what they were she could not quite make out yet. Stepping forward, as close to the edge as she could, she looked straight down and saw a building that seemed to anchor the entire village, if it had been the usual layout of a village, this surely would have been its centre.

Stepping forward, Kakashi interrupted this strange woman's scrutiny of his village. "Welcome to Konohagakure, the village of the hidden leaf, home to us and some of the most powerful ninjas in the country" he said this with as much authority as he could, making sure she knew she could not harm his village without encountering strong opposition, since she was still a threat in his mind. Thus letting her know that despite the dishevelled look, they were not quite vulnerable.


	4. Chapter 4

Standing in the circular office of the building she had seen form the top of the cliff, she calmly looked into the singular eye of the white haired man sitting at the table, this pegged him as someone very important in the village, but she could not help wondering, why the face covering? Was he badly scarred or malformed? Whichever it was, she could not tell just by looking at him, who knew, maybe she would find out later, if she managed to stay that long. She pulled herself from her contemplation when she heard the intake of breath, which meant someone was about to speak.

Taking a deep breath, he asked her the one thing she dreaded most, "What is your name?" his deep voice carried easily across the room, and although he asked kindly, she flinched, looking straight at him, she shrugged, struggling with all her might to remember the name she knew must be hers, but which eluded her constantly. A look of concern flickered across Kakashi's face and seeing her internal struggle, asked her another question to cover the first "where are you from?", little knowing he was making it worse, and she helplessly shook her head and shifted uneasily from one foot onto the other. Again she saw that flicker of concern and sympathy, and for some reason she felt a prickling sensation of irritation, she was not some poor helpless lost child. Despite the large hole that was forming inside her, slowly filling with questions and emptiness, she raised her chin and looked the seated man right in the eye. She did not hold his gaze for long though, as Neji moved into her field of vision, she focussed on him and slowly the irritation flickered and a slow warm glow spread, temporarily covering the darkness within her. She did not know why but he seemed to anchor her, and the warm glow within her started taking the shape of the very correct young man standing beside his Sensei's desk. Quickly she tried to erase such foolishness, but it had already taken hold and for a second she felt a slight heat creep up her neck as her met her green eyes with his pale ones.

Her eyes snapped back to Kakashi when he resumed speaking, "so, since you are clueless to your identity and it seems it may take time to regain your memory, I wish to offer you a place to stay, however, we do not have many intact homes to offer you. "Hokage-sama" came a deep voice from her right, eliciting a shiver down her spine, "the Hyuuga house has many rooms that are currently unoccupied and, with lady Hinata's permission, she could stay there for the time being."

She smiled, Neji had just taken authority, something he seemed very familiar with and poor Hinata probably did not have all that much to say about this matter either way.

The words had erupted before he could check himself, but once uttered, he could not rescind the offer. Why had he had such a surge of sympathy? This was not something one would associate with himself, yes he was loyal and very mission oriented, but he did not often reach out and take someone under his wing. Her stance had pushed him just that bit further, since the lost and unhappy look mirrored the one he used to carry in his recent past, yes, that was it, that was the reason for his action, he identified with her. Well, either way, he was stuck with her now, thankfully the Hyuuga mansion and its accompanying grounds were enormous and had mostly survived the previous disaster intact, so he could avoid her if he wished. Kind-hearted Hinata would care for their guest and his contact with her would be minimal. Satisfied, he looked over to Hinata, who, without hesitation, agreed to his suggestion and in her soft, kind voice officially offered the stranger a place in her childhood home. She was, after all, the heir to the Hyuuga clan, being from the main branch of the family, and even though you could never tell, actually held all the authority while her father was away.

Together with the two Hyuuga, as she had picked up the family name, she was escorted towards what she assumed was the mansion she would be calling home soon. As they kept their brisk pace, she had the sense of awkwardness between the two figures walking just slightly ahead of her, the young woman with her long dark hair glimmering in the sun, almost shied away from the man whose hair almost rivalled that of the girls, despite being a dark brown rather than a black. Turning her senses away from them she spread them out towards the village, counting the hundreds of people that currently resided there, softly grinning as she touched the aura of two familiar people, as they had been there since the moment she had left the Hokage's building, keeping just out of her line of sight. This did not bother her in the slightest, as she knew that no sane leader would let someone that had called an entire team into action just wander freely around their village and she knew there were many secrets to protect here.

Finally reaching the Hyuuga mansion, or what looked like a small village, they entered through a large traditional archway that revealed a very cultured and precise setting, every inch of the large garden seemed planned out. She had expected the mansion to be large, but this lead to the extravagant. It had its own separating wall, keeping the mansion enclosed from the rest of the village, the courtyard itself being huge, not mentioning the buildings that surrounded it. The courtyard had almost a field of clean, well raked sand, the light colour contrasting against the dark polish of the wood present on the walkway, from which many doors lead into seemingly expansive rooms. Turning her head, she heard the clack of a water feature that she could not quite see, but she heard the gentle rush of water as it moved back and forth. She sensed she had stepped into a whole new world of wealth. Strangely she noticed there was none of the expected rush of servants, gathering to meet a master, oddly enough the entire complex was silent, save for the clack of the bamboo water feature, she assumed that they could probably not have that much authority, after all they seemed quite young. This revelation struck her quite hard; they seemed to be close to her age! She had not considered that her age was important at all, and it seemed to be the first thing she found out about herself.

Quite a bit later, as the sun was setting on this extremely long day, she was settling into a strange room, wearing strange clothes in a mansion that was not her home, where she found she could breathe deeply again. Despite outward appearances, she had been quite tense for most of the day, the quick tour of the premises not helping with her fatigue. She was sure her hosts had noticed this, since after the third time she misunderstood a simple question, she was quickly ushered into this echoing, empty room. Yet she was not quite alone, faintly she still sensed the presence of her watch. The silence that came with the almost empty room fell like a heavy blanket around her, bringing with it a weariness she had been trying to keep at bay. As she sat down on the stark white bed she felt herself lose the battle, as the soft sheets of linen enveloped her, she sank into a deep dreamless sleep.

The sun rose once again, slowly spreading its long fingers, warming up the different areas of the village that it touched. She watched it slowly reach across the courtyard, towards the living quarters, where people slowly started moving, beginning their morning chores.

Sleep had been an elusive envoy since that first night, she had desperately spent hours trying to fall back down that elusive black hole of rest that she had welcomed on her first night. However, she now spent her nights wandering, watching the coming and going of the strange people in this village. Even in the late hours of the night the villagers of Konoha barely seemed to sleep, the most active citizens seeming to be those in the green vest jackets. This intrigues her, she wanted to know if they were wearing some sort of uniform? What was its purpose? Why always so busy? There was a distinct grouping that often occurred, mainly in threes or fours they would move around, the majority of the groups had three members of the same or similar age and then, in the case of the four man groups, one older member, seemingly their supervisor. Her brain automatically stored this information for later use, why she did this she did not quite know, but it was still there. She could not quite display that she knew this information because she had been instructed to stay within the Hyuuga compound. When evening fell she was able to shake her detail and make full use of her short lived freedom.

It had been several days since the arrival of the strange girl, and every time he set foot in his home, it felt like an irritant under his skin, he struggled to focus on his training, and it was going strongly downhill, whenever he decided to train at home. It had become so bad, that he had, on a few occasions been so distracted, that Hinata, who until recently was considered the weakest link in the family, had been able to best him, even though he was considered the prodigy of the second branch family.

He could still taste the sand in his mouth from when he had hit the floor. The shock on his face had only been mirrored by Hinata's , because neither of them had been expecting such a turn of events. She had rarely gotten the upper hand, never mind knocking him to the floor, and his mood had been dark for the rest of the day. He now turned to training in the forest whenever he could, sparring with Lee and Tenten whenever they were free, dreading the moment he had to go back. He would step through the archway and his eyes snapped to the door of her room, he would do this with a reflex like motion, today he realised that he had been standing there, actually staring at the closed door, as if hoping to see some movement behind it. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he looked down at himself and noticed that he was covered in grime and dirt from the days excursion, so he headed out to the bathhouse, which was an alone standing building in the corner of the compound. As his stride carried him towards his source of cleanliness, he decided, that for the first time ever, he was going to go and see the Hokage, and request him for a mission, regardless of what it was, he would even take the lowest class one, as long as it got him out of the village. Still absentminded he reached the bathhouse, the smell of sulphur crept into his nose as the wind pulled across the hot spring that was deviated from the public hot springs, just for their convenience. Something he had only recently been exposed to. It was not split into gender sections, as it was not a public bath and was intended for the use of two people at most. There was a lock on the door to signal the occupation of the bath, which he flipped up.

His body broke into pleasant goose bumps as he entered the dark, damp cloakroom, he stopped and felt the soft woven mats wrinkle under his bare feet, he let his white shirt slide down off his shoulders, gathering at his waist where he had tied the black protective covering his loose fitting pants. Before removing these, he flexed his muscles, stretching out his battle hardened shoulders and arms, briefly brushing the circular scar on his chest that stood out from the rest covering his body. Despite the warmth within, he still felt a chill once all of his clothing items had been removed, so he quickly wrapped his lower body in a warm, soft towel and headed to the much anticipated warm, clean water, following the heat to the inner room. A wash of warm air and steam greeted him as he pulled open the door, he stepped forward, moving deeper into the steam, he dropped his towel, longing for the warm embrace of the heated water, but froze as a sound caught his attention.

A figure emerged out of the steam, her long auburn hair flowing down her back, streaming with water, her back arched in an elegant yet well muscled curve backwards, her hands smoothing unruly strands of hair away from her face. It was her, she was not in her room, annoyance flickered across his face, he had been staring at an empty room. Abruptly his emotion changed, hold on, here she was and he had just walked in on her! He had to get out, and fast, in his haste he faltered and tripped over his towel, landing hard on his back. Her head snapped back over her shoulder, as if in reflex she threw her arms up over her breasts and dropped down into the opaque water. He rose slowly, trying to keep what was left of his dignity intact, kept eye contact, betrayed by the heat he felt rising up his neck and face. Turning he stalked out as fast as he could, leaving his towel behind on the floor, knowing that his dignity was entirely lost, since it could not be clearer to her that, despite his angry expression, he had been pleased by what he had seen.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Well that had been eventful. She had not expected a visitor during her attempt at using the bath house again, of course she had been wondering how exactly you stopped people from wandering in while the bath house was in use, but as of yet, it had not been an issue, she had not been able to locate the lock, and had thought it was normal, since many of the doors had no locks to speak of. As unexpected as the surprise visit had been, she could not say it was unpleasant entirely, for Neji was not unpleasant to look at with his clothes on, and now she had seen all of him, and, with a draining revelation she realized, he had also seen all of her. Warmth crept up her neck to her face and her knees went a little weak, oh dear. She would be lying if she told herself that she had not thought about Neji in a few very odd ways, including in the same manner that she had just been exposed to, or that many of her sleepless nights were because of him.

Not surprisingly, tonight was another restless night, her insomnia kicking in, but there was another underlying note that night. Every time she closed her eyes, there he was, in all his gloriousness, Neji, his outlines lightly blurred by the damp, steamy air, his hair gleaming as it caught hold of the moisture in the air, his skin starting to glisten as the warm air condensed against it and the distinct shape of his strong muscles rippling as he moved. A smile crept up her face as she recalled his slip and fall, neither of which left her with much to imagine, slowly her smile faded as she recalled the lighter patches of scar on his body. He had obviously lived a hard life, to carry so many memories of old wounds.

What he had seen had been nothing new to him, having worked closely with a girl on his team, he had experienced feelings of attraction before, but nothing like this. He had seen girls in all kinds of ways, being a very popular young man, and he knew it, girls had taken it upon themselves to try and court him, and even though he had never taken advantage of any one of them, keeping strictly to his code of honour. Something was different this time though, he had lost his cool here, he never lost his cool, and she was at the centre of this reaction. The occurrence this evening had fanned into flames something that he had been suppressing for a while now and he could not repell her from within him. He had no time for this and decided that in the morning, he would go and see the Hokage, at the earliest moment possible. He just HAD to put distance between them and he would do so by taking on any mission available, even ones that he considered below his rank. Unbidden the steamy image of her in the expansive bath burst into his mind. Groaning, he threw himself back onto his soft bed, his hear spreading haphazardly over his pillow as he closed his eyes, trying desperately to sink into a dreamless sleep.

It had been utterly useless, while he had been able to achieve somewhat of a semblance of sleep, it had been less than restful and even further from dreamless. He awoke very frustrated as the dawn lightened the sky over the cliffs that surrounded his village. The dreams that plagued him were of the steamy sort, matching the previous night's incidents and it had made waking up more uncomfortable than usual. Eventually he had given in to his wakefulness in the early hours, and was now pacing in front of the closed doors to the hokage's office. As the sun started to crest over the masses of treetops, a bleary eyed Kakashi came strolling into his office, his one visible eye frowning as soon as it found Neji standing in the hallway. Quickly he pushed open the doors to his office, gently holding the steaming mug of tea in his other hand, and strode briskly into the circular office. At first Neji was slightly taken aback by the sudden urgency of Kakashi's motions upon seeing him, realising with a pang, that Kakashi probably assumed there was something amiss with their visitor, who had been put under his watch. While he was not entirely wrong, Neji was sure that Kakashi would take a dim view of his perspective, he decided to set things straight immediately, thus avoiding any misunderstandings.

"Hokage-Sama" he started, "I have come to inform you that our guest seems to be settling in just fine, she seems to be happy with us and Lady Hinata is making sure that she has everything she needs."

There was palpable relief in Kakashi's eye and Neji found himself relaxing in return, now he could ask for his favour.

"I however seem to be redundant in that area, so I wish to request a mission as I dislike being idle."

Kakashi was giving him a suspicious look, which quickly turned into one of mischief as Neji spoke.

"It is somewhat early in the day for such a request, why, I wonder, do you need to make the request at the break of day?" Kakashi said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I do, however, have the perfect mission for you. Since you mention our guest, I believe she has not been let out of your compound since her arrival?" his voice was quizzical.

"Correct sir." Replied Neji

"Good, now I want you to be her escort for one day, get to know her, find out exactly who or what she is." As he spoke, Neji noticed his Hokage's eye flicker towards the top drawer of his desk, it was an ill kept secret that Kakashi kept his erotic books in there, and it was obvious that he wanted Neji to leave soon.

"Show her our beautiful town, without exposing us too much to her, now you may leave" drawled the Hokage, leaning back in his red swivel chair.

Walking out of the building, Neji could not believe his luck, or the lack thereof. All he had wanted was some distance to clear his head, now he had to spend an entire day with her! Why on earth would Kakashi utilize him, Neji Hyuuga, as a tour guide? What kind of games was he playing? This was the kind of mission rookies, or someone like Naruto used to get, not him, as a prodigy he had always been given high ranking missions, and he had earned his reputation as genius. He was, after all, the strongest Hyuuga of his age, and had won many battles, but now here he was, a mere escort to a stranger. What's more, a stranger that distracted him in such a way that he just could not comprehend why he reacted to her in such a manner. It could not be because she was female, there were many women, both ninja and non-ninja, that had tried for his affections, but none had disturbed him in such a manner.

He stopped, he had been standing in front of her door. He did not know when he had arrived, and he clicked his tongue in frustration, this was what he had been worrying about, this kind of distraction, it was not who he was. He was always alert, he never just wandered or forgot where he was going. Slowly it came to his realisation that not only was he standing at her door, but that it was open, and she was standing in the doorway. Travelling up from her feet, where his eyes had rested in his deep thoughts, he let his eyes travel up her. She was dressed more suitably now, obviously wearing some of Hinata's old clothes. A cream jacket and long dark pants with sandals now fit her quite snugly, accenting her figure in ways that it never had for a younger, slightly more awkward Hinata. Since she was shorter than Hinata, it only stood to reason that she should wear something from Hinata's youth. His pale eyes now reached her face, from which her long hair was now drawn back into a tight ponytail, their eyes connected, his pupil less ones meeting her bright green ones for a split second, before both glanced away, shuffling awkwardly in each other's presence. To anyone watching, it was painfully obvious that they shared an awkward secret.


End file.
